Queen Joker
Victim
Prostitute Gambler
Saboteur
King Guide Servant Judge ChildLinda Nelson Mother Johnson Vampire
Nevada IA
R
aised as an Iowa farm girl, I have been an Artist/Creative since childhood. When I was six years-old my mother taught me and my brother to embroider. The pieces weren’t wonderful or beautiful or finished, but it started me on my creative path through life. When I was eight years-old, my mother began teaching me how to sew using the sewing machine. This started with doll clothing and quickly moved into sewing simple clothes for myself. In fact, most of the clothing I wore for the next 20 years I made myself – using and altering patterns. I continued exploring sewing through two years of college and motherhood – making clothes for myself and my children – often altering the patterns as I wished. After my two children were in school, I went back to college and began studying interior design and eventually achieved a master’s degree. My thesis focused on historic interior ornamentation and included a study
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of the historic stencil ornamentation of the Iowa State Capitol. I was actively involved with the restoration of the interior stencil ornamentation of the Iowa State Capitol. That lead to the development of my own line of stencils. The barn featured in the piece, Home Again is from my line of stencils. This all lead to an interior design teaching position at Arizona State University for twenty-one years and later Washington State University for seven years. When I retired, I moved back to my Iowa farmland. Now I find that I am incorporating past creative experiences and nature with newly found methods and adventures, many of which include cloth and sewing – my first two loves. However, I am always open to new methods of creating art. My new adventure is exploring eco printing possibilities with the heat press. This allows me to combine my early farm and outdoor experience with my knowledge of design.
